News
Local

Barrhead RCMP paint bleak picture on rural crime

Barrhead RCMP Sgt. Bob Dodds presented on the difficulties of mitigating rural crime to Woodlands County Council during its regular meeting on March 6.

The Barrhead RCMP are responsible for policing Barrhead County, a major section of Woodlands County and a portion of Lac Ste. Anne County.

"The news here is not good and that's kind of been the mantra for a couple of years," Dodds said. "There's a lot working against us right now."

In 2017, person-to-person offences such as homicide and assault rates remained largely consistent for the Barrhead detachment. Dodds' main concern was property offences and particularly motor vehicle thefts, which rose from 75 in 2016, to 106 in 2017.

According to Statistics Canada, Alberta accounts for 29 per cent of vehicle thefts in Canada while only having 11 per cent of the population.

"No sign of it getting better," Dodds added.

Coun. Syliva Bonnett asked if this was because residents were "trusting rural people" that tend to leave their keys in their vehicles. Dodds replied that this trend was also occurring in Edmonton.

"It's a cultural thing out here, I suppose," Dodds said, estimating that motor vehicle thefts could be knocked down 75 per cent if residents took the keys out of their parked vehicles.

The RCMP recover vehicles anywhere from 100 km away to a few blocks away from the site of the theft. Dodds described motor vehicles thieves as being akin to impaired drivers.

"A lot of them are high (on drugs) when they're driving these things," he said.

Because of this, Dodds said the RCMP aren't allowed to chase after stolen vehicles in order to prevent other parties from being harmed.

"We don't chase and they know that," Dodds said. "As soon as they see the red and blue lights in their rearview mirror, the pedal goes down and away they go."

Coun. Dale McQueen stated that short sentences could contribute to vehicle thefts. Dodds replied that the RCMP were targeting repeat offenders and that the stats were indeed "embarrassing."

"You don't become a police officer to watch a bad guy go down the road and you pull over to stop," Dodd said. "But when you start thinking about public safety versus the property crime, public safety trumps everything."

Coun. Ron Govenlock asked why there wasn't a strong presence of cruisers on the roads.

Dodds explained that there was a difference between visibility and effectiveness and that the RCMP had to be more strategic with their resources, such as deploying members during the nighttime rather than the middle of the day.

"Maybe we start finding some vehicles that shouldn't be out there," Dodds said. "We're trying to be more efficient with what we've got."

Dodds added that it had been a tough year for the detachment due to staff shortages, which negatively impacted drug enforcement since it requires local knowledge.

McQueen also noted that more rural residents might resort to defending themselves due to long RCMP response times.

"The thieves know about it. They know it's fair pickings now," he told Dodds. "The pubic's starting to run scared, Bob. You know it."

Dodds answered that while he understood the frustration, he knew RCMP members who had taken a life and how it impacted them while the media continues to portray taking life as a "flippant" thing.

He added that residents could only defend themselves if there was an immediate threat and that taking it any further would make them the threat.

"In Canada, we don't execute people for murder. You can't shoot them for stealing your gas," he said. "Our members find themselves charged occasionally with shooting when they shouldn't. If they can't always make the right decisions, how is a citizen with no training going to make that correct decision every time?"

He advised residents to harden their properties through security measures and report crimes as soon as possible.